I'm home, more impressions after a week of NYC
Highlights:
- The High Line: loved this. It looked like a long stretch to walk on the map, but I was disappointed when it was over. Took some nice pictures here and read some. If I lived near this, I'd imagine this'd be my go to spot for reading
- Union Square: there was a market going on when I got there. Nice place to relax
- Museums: not the biggest museum guy, but I loved the ones I visited (MET, Moma, Natural History). I'd gladly visit them again. I had my fill and skipped the Guggenheim, will probably do that on my next visit.
- Views: did top of the Rock at daytime, Empire State at night. The nighttime view is something else. I did get weak in the knees when I started watching the cars down below. Immediately backed away from the railing, can't handle that hah. Top of the Rock is better overall because it's not as crowded as Empire State is. I got a good spot to look around in all directions.
- Just walking around in the less crowded parts of the city. Walking around TS and the busier parts of Midtown got a bit old for me, but exploring the less crowded areas of Manhattan is great. That's one of the things I like in a big city like NY: if you walk a bit, you can escape the masses pretty quickly.
- Madison Square Park + the Shake Shack. It's great to have your junk food in the park
- Chinatown + Little Italy were great to walk around in, and really showed the diversity you can find in this city.
- Brooklyn is nice... Calm neighborhoods and great sights near the water. Had a great nap in the botanical garden one afternoon
- Stores: I really liked the TS Toys R Us and FAO Schwarz. Forbidden Planet too for comics.
- Subway: okay there are some shady people on it, but $30 for unlimited rides for a full week? That's just great if you're on a trip.
Food
It'd be bad if I lived in NYC, I'd gain weight very quickly. I just wouldn't be able to resist the unhealthy stuff.
* Hamburgers: I had the Minetta Black Label burger but I wouldn't have it again. Even though it's great, it's just way too pricey. iirc it was almost $30 for the burger alone, with terrible side pommes frites. Plus, they tricked me
Everywhere you get water for free and here they asked if I wanted water... Bam, $8 on the bill. Price/quality wise I had a way better experience in Bare Burger. Cheaper, great burger and way better service.
Shake Shack is ok, but don't see what the fuss about. The peanut butter shake though... holy crap, nectar of the gods.
* Fries: I come from the land of the fries, and even in a city like NYC I never tasted decent ones, all junk
* Deli: I went to Katz' deli and got the famous parmesan sandwich. Very good, but earlier near TS I had one that was just as good, and was a nicer place to eat (I looked at receipts, Lindy's diner). I didn't like eating at Katz, it felt like a high school cafeteria.
* Already raved about the Levain bakery, divine cookies. Unbelievable
* Juliana's pizza: pricey, but very good! I did regret my pizza choice a bit. Went for the 'special #2', which was very light on toppings. Tasted great, but as the pepperoni's passed by I was a bit jealous.
* I regret missing Totto ramen, my place was one block away from it. Definitely next time.
* What I love about going to the US most food-wise, is your breakfast culture. Stepping into a diner and ordering a lumberjack is something you just can't do here... Generally there are little to no places in Belgium where you can sit down in the morning and have breakfast. It's mostly limited to getting crossaints/pastry from the bakery. Everyone has breakfast at home. So doing the classic diner thing a few times is just bliss for me.
* Always nice that most places give you free water (and refills)
What I didn't like:
- I expected this, but the Statue of Liberty didn't impress me that much. The views from the boat are nice, but this is a big tourist trap thing I won't do again. Ellis Island was worth it though.
- Times Square: see it once, then avoid, in my book. The lightshow was a great sight, but the huge crowd there gets tiresome. It's still better than Vegas though, because you can easily walk away from it.
- Constant babysitting by clerks/personnel. I can handle it in diners/restaurants, but in stores I get the feeling they're constantly watching you and ask if you need help. No, I don't need help browsing books, thanks. Then there's the opposite: the clerks in metro stations that stare at you with dead eyes and couldn't be bothered to help. Asking locals is generally a better idea I've found
- The subway stations are insanely hot/humid
One more general observation: boy, do people in NYC like talking on their phone. This is something you just don't see in this extreme degree here. I catch snippets of conversations and it's mostly rambling that goes nowhere. It's very amusing and fascinating.
That's about it for now, huge post as it is. Ask away about other things or comment on anything. I had a great time and I'll definitely be coming back. The weather was also a nice plus. Only had one rainy afternoon.
